TN minister Kamaraj to be discharged from hospital after responding well to COVID-19 treatment

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Food and Civil Supplies Minister R Kamaraj who was admitted to the MGM Healthcare Hospital with COVID-19 complications and put on ventilator support is likely to be discharged anytime, said Health Minister C Vijayabaskar.

Speaking to the press at the hospital on Wednesday, Vijayabaskar said Kamaraj who developed cytokine storm, bacterial infection and complete lung damage responded well to the treatment.

Kamaraj's son K Iniyan said they shifted his father to the MGM hospital on the advice of the health minister to put him on ECMO, but his father didn't require ECMO support.

"I also thank the team of doctors at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital who intubated my father at the right time and put him on antibiotics. We shifted him to the Government Hospital (GH) on the advice of the health minister after his condition deteriorated at home, but his health condition further deteriorated at the GH and he had to be shifted to MGM Healthcare Hospital for ECMO support," said Iniyan.

Iniyan said, his father tested positive for COVID-19 on January 1, but clinically he was asymptomatic. "We admitted him to a private hospital and he was discharged after seven days. But after the third day of his discharge, he developed fever, so we shifted him to the GH where his condition worsened and he had to be intubated," Iniyan added.

The Health Minister also thanked the team of doctors at MGM Healthcare Hospital and RGGGH. "It is a medical miracle, it is the rebirth of Kamaraj. I am proud that Tamil Nadu has the best team of doctors in the country," Vijayabaskar said.

The minister also said as per the advice of the doctors, Kamaraj would require two to three weeks rest at home and after that he can get back to his normal activities.